This was a tough one for me to figure out how to place and other such concerns. In a lot of ways, it's not a REVIEW review, but in a lot of ways, that doesn't really matter. I can't imagine that the average guy or gal would walk into ME Trilogy with no knowledge of fundamentals and such for the series. I mean, I haven't played any of the games yet and think I know a good bit about them just from reading the stuff you and Suskie, among others, have said. Which makes this an interesting read, as it's purely from the perspective of the emotional impact playing all three back-to-back-to-back can have upon a player and how that impact can easily negate each game's flaws. You do a good job of tying it all together to create something which, while not a review in the "purist's" sense, is a damn strong endorsement.

You reviewed two games I've reviewed (or reviewed TWICE, as far as SotN goes)! I liked this one better though, perhaps because of all the great praise I've read (and written) for SoTN. You do a really good job of showing the ways in which this game fails to be more than mediocre. From the perspective of a guy who isn't all that great at shooters, it makes this game's lack of difficulty all the more notable, which really works here. Describing how taking hits only removes one level of power-up and how you saw most of the game pretty quickly paints a vivid picture. You should try Soldier Blade at some time…not as great as Super Star Soldier (at least as far as levels go; this game is highlighted by bosses, which are often great), but better than this.

I really liked your "nostalgia-vs-reality" slant here. It's been done a lot (including quite often by me…it's turned into one of my "go-to" moves), but you had a fun way of bringing it up, describing the music and character graphics and how neat they were…before going into all the failings. As a fan of beat-em-ups, I definitely felt your pain when detailing just how horribly flawed the idea of occasionally switching to a single plane is for a game like this. This was my favorite review of the week and there was some really good competition at the top, so that illustrates just how much your slant worked for me with this one.

And, of course, there were quality reviews from two other people (one of which I did a bit of work with to add line breaks and the like in order to make a bit more aesthetically pleasing to me, at least). Good week, so keep up the work and stuff. And also read my Mana review, as it was ineligible for this because of it being mine.

Hey, thanks for the positive feedback and placement! Yeah, I sat down to do a "review" review of the Mass Effect series and realized that I was bored to tears covering it as a traditional gaming experience. Maybe it was because I came to it so soon after my (emotionally exhausting) two month straight run of it, but I also was very aware that I was covering a re-release of one of the decade's most popular and well known series. Trying to act like I was the first to play the game and inform everyone of the basics of its gameplay and design felt misguided. What I really wanted to review was my unique experience, because I think that's what Mass Effect highlights: the unique experience you can have. I hope you play it soon and pen your own review of the series! I'd be curious to know what you think. And if you kept a blog journal of your playthrough, like I did, I'd read it ^_^ It really is a game where you want to know what everyone else did.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."